Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Game 104: Toronto at Oakland

The only thing the Blue Jays would say about the reason Scott Rolen requested a trade was that the third baseman wanted to be moved for “personal reasons.” Beyond that, the general response was, “You’ll have to ask him about that.” I was told yesterday it was for family reasons and Rolen addressed the matter with the Reds media today:

“I’m thrilled to be here. This is as close to home as I can be. My parents brought me here to watch ballgames, and where I’m from there is a St. Louis, Cincinnati split right down the middle. I’m a Midwestern guy, and I enjoy being here. I certainly enjoyed my time in St. Louis with Walt [Jocketty] and I enjoy this part of the country. This is a spot I wanted to get back to and be here for awhile.

“When I was in St. Louis, I was real comfortable in that area. I have a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, and my wife and parents travel quite a bit, my brother lives in this area. I’ve always wanted to try and finish up at home or get back to this area, this part of the country. I did approach J.P. [Ricciardi] and asked if he would consider moving me back to this area, to the Midwest.

“[Cincinnati] certainly would be my number one choice. J.P. approached me at one point and said he would look into it and try to accommodate me. I know he worked real hard, and I know Walt worked hard. I’m very thankful and appreciative for the opportunity to get back to where I’m from, to where my family is.”

So, there you have it. And, hey, as a Chicagoan who has been living in Toronto for a number of years now, as great of a city as it is, it isn’t home and that aspect can be hard on a family. Now, one could argue that Rolen should be thrilled to be playing anywhere for $11 million. But, he is nearing the end of his career and home is home, I guess. His family may have had a hard time adjusting to being in Canada. Who knows?

Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Roenicke — two of the three players dealt to Toronto for Rolen — are both in Oakland with the Jays now. Roenicke is wearing “33” — Rolen’s former number with the Jays. Encarnacion is wearing “7” and is starting tonight at third base. Batting cleanup? Lyle Overbay.

Snider followed up his 4 double night with a 2 for 3 night which included another home run, another double, another 2 rbi’s and a walk.
He’s now hitting .425 over the last 10 games with 7 doubles, 3 home runs and 15 rbi’s in that period. He has really taken off since they put him in the 4th hole with Dopirak hitting 5th. No question, Snider is the Jays 4th hole hitter for the future. Seeing how hot this kid gets, it will be fun to watch him in the years to come.

Brian Dopirak continues his very consistent hitting and is now .343/.357/.522 over his 16 games in Vegas with 3 home runs, 3 doubles and 13 driven in.

The two kids along with Lind and Hill give the Jays 4 young low cost players all capable of hitting 25-30 home runs and driving in 100 rbi’s per year.
If Cito, Butterfield & Tennace can improve Edwin Encarnacion’s defense and consistency, and Wells/Rios perform as we all thought they could, then we could be looking at a real dangerous lineup capable of putting large numbers of runs on the board in a hurry.
What’s still missing is a short stop who hits for high average, good obp and has good speed, like Eric Aybar from LA or a younger Scutaro.
It really is too bad the Halladay deal with LA didn’t get done, hopefully it gets sooner than later.

I do not understand why Kevin Millar continues to be on this team when there is a guy in the minors (see Dopirak) putting up the numbers that GS mentioned. This team isn’t going anywhere this year bring him up already. Even if they were in the race, kevin isn’t contributing much.

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